JOHN McCORMACK wouldn't bet on Steve Jennings being guilty of any wrongdoing in the latest betting storm to hit Scottish football.

But the former Morton boss admits he'd lay decent odds he was the victim of a gambling scam that cost his Greenock club the Second Division title six years ago.

After his side famously blew a 13-point lead to allow Airdrie to clinch the title, Cowboy still has nagging doubts over allegations his players were punting against themselves to lose.

He was also part of a gambling gang that lumped cash on one of their own guys to score first.

Cowboy said: "Things do happen before games and I remember one player we had who was listed at 30-1 to score the first goal.

"The boys all thought it was a good bet so the money went on him in the hope we were given a penalty and then we insisted on him taking it.

"Let's think about it, it's only common-sense and it did happen - I was there. The players were all paid out in pound notes so that was a happy camp."

Whether there is more to Jennings' dismissal for Motherwell than meets the eye remains to be seen but the fall-out has forced McCormack to relive one of the most notorious rumours of our game.

He said: "These kind of things don't just appear because someone has been making them up. There are always doubts and to this day I will always have my doubts.

"The gambling story had a huge impact on our dressing room but we did everything we could to investigate it.

"We did everything we could to find out exactly what was going on. We needed to make sure in our own minds if there was anything in it as we couldn't believe anything like that was going on.

"We thoroughly investigated everything but could not substantiate any of the allegations which were made towards this player or that player.

"We heard various things as we went along but couldn't prove anything. It did affect us, though. The players became apprehensive as they were thinking they were all under scrutiny.

"These things have an effect in any dressing room. We offered players rewards - and we're talking about substantial sums of money - to come forward but nobody did."

The finger of suspicion has been pointed towards Jennings but McCormack insists there should be no question mark over his integrity until evidence is produced to the contrary although he admits football has never been immune to foul play.

He said: "There's always a doubt in your head when something like this comes up.

"There's no question about that as it is always in your head and it niggles away. All you can do is fully investigate just what is going on and then you just need to get on with things.

"There will always be players who will exploit certain things as they have more of a chance to make inroads in football gambling as they are the ones who are playing the game and involved in what is going on.

"If there is an opportunity for a player to gain financially from this type of thing I'm sure one or two who have done but we are not talking about a majority.

"It will never be 100 per cent clean as there will always be some who look for an angle to do something.

It happens, I'm sure most people in football would agree with that."

The expanding gambling markets and live football have created a gambling paradise for those who like a flutter but McCormack believes there are big question marks over the notion that Jennings went out to be deliberately sent off.

He said: "You can gamble on anything from who wins the first corner, who is booked first, everything, so of course it's open to abuse.

"Is it somebody doing it on their own? Is it a more organised thing? Was the whole thing premeditated?

"That is the issue here and it's not a difficult thing to get yourself sent off if that is your intention. But I would have thought if you wanted to get yourself sent off then surely it makes more sense to go and have a boot at somebody.

"If he had it in his head to get sent off why would highlight it by going to the referee the way he did.

"There is probably a temptation for some players to earn extra money without anyone being wise to it but there are other ways to do it which are less conspicuous."

McCormack believes his own experience from a betting story backlash is one which will never fully fade but urged Jennings to just keep his head down.

He added: "The player just needs to get on with it until such point any allegations are proven just as was the case with us at Morton."